Core Values *New Draft - Berwick Academy

Draft 11-25-08Berwick AcademyCore Values Draft #3Balance – Berwick Academy community members all participate in a quest for balance that,when achieved, is readily demonstrated in Berwick’s sense of community, which is marked by joy,optimism, and humor. We continually embrace a healthy and spiraling cycle of discovery, selfreflection,and growth. While we recognize that each community member’s journey towards thisvalue is an individualized work in progress, we share a common understanding of the tensions thatexist within our definition of balance:• Challenging ourselves and nurturing each other• Attaining personal excellence and wellness• Risk-taking and safety• Achievement and humility• Reaching harmony among academics, arts, athletics, and service• Valuing both tradition and innovation• Defining our roles and allocating our time and energy among Berwick Academy, SouthBerwick, and global communities• Ownership of our present school and stewardship of Berwick Academy’s future• Appreciation for individual success as well as national recognition for the community

A Community of Excellence – While academic excellence is central to the Berwick experience, ourcommunity of high standards expects all constituents to be in a process of striving for their personalbest in these additional areas:• Support of or achievement in all aspects of the Berwick program - academics, arts, athletics,and service• Building and sustaining meaningful relationships with an emphasis on collaboration• Independence, self-advocacy, and emotional growth• Seeking avenues for personal improvement towards achieving one’s potential (e.g. extra help,professional development, mentoring, etc.)• Creativity, imagination, and innovationStretching through Engagement – Berwick assumes that we all benefit from personal exploration,taking healthy risks, and genuinely diving into new endeavors. All members of the Berwick Academycommunity are expected to stretch themselves in the following ways:• Leaving one’s zone of comfort• Accepting occasional healthy failures that lead to a deepening sense of resiliency and learning• An unwillingness to embrace apathy and/or passivity• Grappling with intellectual knowledge, demonstrating an ethic of sportsmanship, andexhibiting artistic expression• Embracing a life long commitment to learning and growingCommitment to Integrity – Being a member of the Berwick community requires a deeply heldcommitment to being a person of strong character and continually refining one’s ethicalunderstanding of the evolving world. Our belief in the fundamental importance of integrity functionsas a rudder that guides us through all personal explorations and risks. Our concept of integrityencompasses:• Honesty, responsibility, and personal accountability• Caring and respect• Acceptance and tolerance• Wholeness and wellness• Self-awareness and reflection